Lokken doesn’t disappoint with Marquette half-marathon win

MARQUETTE – Led by nearly 200 entrants in Saturday’s full marathon, an estimated 800 people took part in two days of races at the Marathon Marathon.

The largest turnout was in the half-marathon, with more than 350 finishers, and also included the biggest local name, Tracy Lokken of Marquette.

Lokken didn’t disappoint, winning the men’s race by more than 8 1/2 minutes among 128 men.

He also won the men’s 45-49 year-old age group at the Boston Marathon in April, finishing in the top 30 overall.

Adding Saturday’s title in the men’s 40-49 division, Lokken posted a time of 1 hour, 10 minutes and 12.3 seconds on a course that started and began at Presque Isle park in Marquette.

Runner-up was Asa Kelly of Beulah, who also claimed the men’s 30-39 crown, in 1:18:43.0.

Three other area runners also broke into the men’s top 10 – Kyle Wilkinson of Marquette, racing in the 30-39 group, was seventh in 1:27:46.2; Ben Yelle of Gwinn (30-39) was ninth in 1:29:26.4; and Eric Rizzio of Marquette (20-29) was 10th in 1:30:39.3.

The next set of 10 finishers included Brig Voigt of Marquette (20-29), Rob Fox of Negaunee (50-59) and Tom Isaacson of Marquette (30-39).

On the women’s side, which featured 227 entrants, Alison Goss of Traverse City beat out Marquette’s Kimberly Malandrone by about 3 1/2 minutes, clocking 1:28:47.6 to 1:32:15.8. Goss was tops among women ages 20-29, Malandrone first in the 30-39 division.

Among the second 10 were Beth Aldrich of Manistique (40-49), Rachel Urban of Manistique (20-29), Kristin Hillier of Ishpeming (30-39), Heather McFarren of Marquette (30-39) and Alison Case of Marquette (20-29).

One other notable finisher was Sandra Purrington of Marquette, who was the only entrant in the 70-and-over division and came in 197th overall in 2:42:22.1.

Marathon

Unlike the half-marathon, the most famous entrant wasn’t local, but came from halfway across the world. Trent “Marathon Man” Morrow of New South Wales, Australia, finished 78th in the men’s division in 4:23:48.4.

Morrow, who ran in the 40-49 division, is reported to be nearing his 100th marathon this year.

His division included 121 listed entrants, while the women’s side had 73.

Locally, Marquette runners swept the top three women’s spots. Elizabeth Jones (30-39) won in 3:06:56.5, nearly five minutes ahead of runner-up Christina Carradine (20-29) in 3:11:45.3, with Melanie Bicigo (30-39) third in 3:22:21.7.

The next area finisher was Brittany Cappoferri of Negaunee (20-29) in 12th in 3:38:42.1. Anna Kerr of Marquette (20-29) was 18th in 3:42:40.0, while Jennifer Mathias-Sundberg of Ishpeming (20-29) was 21st and Nina van Den Ende of Marquette (40-49) 23rd.

On the men’s side, Jon Rock (20-29) of Macomb won in 2:29:04.6, more than 10 minutes ahead of runner-up Matt Ebiner (50-59) of California.

The top area man was Neal Collick (30-39) of Negaunee, who finished 29th in 3:19:23.2. Mark Link (30-39) of Marquette was 45th.

Also of note was Bill Sved of Marquette, who won the men’s 60-69 division in 3:49:19.3, 63rd overall.

Marathon relay

Each of the four team members ran about 6 1/2 miles in Saturday’s relay, which listed 15 teams that finished.

The He Ain’t Heavy mixed-division team of Adrian Groos, Tyus Groos, Sam Medo and Karen Medo had the fastest time in 3:24.25.0.

Friday races

An adult five-kilometer and children’s 5K and 1K races were held with Pierzchalski, a top-10 finisher in the half-marathon, winning the women’s Blackrocks 5K?race in 21:27.6, 50 seconds ahead of Minnesota’s Sarah Poggi.

Marquette women occupied the next four spots – Jamie Armour of Marquette was third in 22:58.9, followed by Erika Asmus in 23:54.1, Joanne Wolford in 24:08.2 and Jorrie Houle in 24:16.2.

Also breaking into the top 10 of the 48 women who finished were Rachael Stade of Marquette and Anne Perala of Marquette.

Eric Hautamaki of Marquette won the men’s 5K in 18:44.6, ahead of runner-up Greg Daw of Marquette, who clocked 19:23.6.

Doug Baldwin of Marquette was fourth in 20:00.6, with Marquette’s Jeff Nyquist, Keith Kuykendall and Flynn Wyche also cracking the top 10 among 38 finishers.

Racing in the 12-13 division, Luke Rambo of Marquette won the Rock Skipper 5K in 18:22.6, with Jacob Johnson (14-15) of Marquette second in 20:09.7. Karen Ludwig (12-13) was second among girls in 25:27.1.

In the Pebble Run 1K, with 38 girls and 39 boys up to age 11, Maija Fox (10-11) of Negaunee was fastest girl and Lincoln Sager (10-11) of Marquette the quickest boy in 5:16.3.